Traditional gaming systems employ coin or token operated gaming devices. In these traditional gaming devices a player inserts one or more coins or tokens as a wager in the game. This activates the gaming device to allow the player to make a play. The player next makes some input at the gaming device and the device ultimately responds by displaying the result of the play. In a reel-type gaming machine or slot machine, for example, the player pulls a handle to cause actual or electronically represented wheels to spin, and then eventually stop in an ending position. The ending positions of the reels determine whether the play wins a prize or does not. Regardless of the type of game being played, whether a mechanical or electronic reel-type game, an electronic card game, or some other electronic casino game, the traditional gaming devices themselves determine whether or not the play is a winning play.
More recent gaming systems allow players to fund an account specific to the player and then make wagers from the account. These types of systems are commonly referred to as “cashless” systems. Cashless systems are advantageous in that the player need not carry cash or tokens in order to participate in a game. Rather, once the player has funded his or her account, they may identify the account at a gaming device and then make wagers using funds recorded in their account. Account information for the player is maintained in a data-processing device in communication with the gaming devices. This data processing device deducts wagers from the account and adds winnings. However, the data-processing device that maintains the player account relies on information from the gaming devices to determine when the player account should be debited and credited.